The others are of his new favorite trick of climbing up into the coffee table. He seriously can't get enough of this and thinks its the coolest thing ever.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Exploring
Marshall is doing some serious exploring now that he's on the move. Below, he's first realizing that it is, in fact, his bathtub without any water in it(the tub, by the way, was something I found in the market as a part of a "set" that was together about $7. The other two items in the set are a baby toilet(looks like a dog bowl with a seat back) and a poop bucket).
The others are of his new favorite trick of climbing up into the coffee table. He seriously can't get enough of this and thinks its the coolest thing ever.
The others are of his new favorite trick of climbing up into the coffee table. He seriously can't get enough of this and thinks its the coolest thing ever.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Our Growing Boy...
Marshall had his 6 month checkup with Dr. Tatiana today. She was a very lovely Russian woman who married a Malian and has lived here for 23 years.
He's healthy as can be, all checks out and handled his vaccinations like a champ. He's got an 18" around head(75% for those that keep up with his place in the world of baby sizes)and he's 28" long(again, 75%)-um, thats FOUR INCHES since his 4 month checkup.
Now he's at 15 pounds 10 oz. A small weight gain in a month or so, a low percentile, but as Dr. Tatiana said in half French, half Russian accent with a dismissive look and tone, "Americans are so...how do you say...so...prudent...they get scared about everything. Just give him some oil and butter and in a month, you come back, he will have one kilo more."
Marshall just can't stop moving, so all his calories go to his brain and length and the rest are burned. Don't you wish your doctor told you you needed to eat more butter?
He's healthy as can be, all checks out and handled his vaccinations like a champ. He's got an 18" around head(75% for those that keep up with his place in the world of baby sizes)and he's 28" long(again, 75%)-um, thats FOUR INCHES since his 4 month checkup.
Now he's at 15 pounds 10 oz. A small weight gain in a month or so, a low percentile, but as Dr. Tatiana said in half French, half Russian accent with a dismissive look and tone, "Americans are so...how do you say...so...prudent...they get scared about everything. Just give him some oil and butter and in a month, you come back, he will have one kilo more."
Marshall just can't stop moving, so all his calories go to his brain and length and the rest are burned. Don't you wish your doctor told you you needed to eat more butter?
Monday, January 7, 2008
Poly-sateen light show
We've discovered that not only does our "lovely" coverlet add gauche style and the kind of warmth only a cheap synthetic can, it also provides entertainment. When all the lights are out, and its as dry as it is it lets off pretty blue sparks when it moves.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Yey, Applesauce!
Apple sauce(well...more like apple smash as our homemade version came out...) was a big hit. Whew, we finally have another option of something he'll eat enough of besides bananas and rice cereal mixed together. And, honestly, its just cleaner.
I'm going to wait the 4 days that is suggested before introducing a new food(to make sure he's not allergic, but I don't think I've ever heard of anyone allergic to apples...) and then move forward with sweet potatoes.
Sweet potatoes should have been something I started with, but I found myself stuck in that sweet potato, yam debate...couldn't quite figure out what was what and I wasn't seeing any pink skinned, orange fleshed things in the market that seemed to be the beta carotene rich things I should be feeding Marshall.
So, here's some education, for those of you who don't already have it. Everything sold in the US as a sweet potato or a yam is actually a sweet potato. Yes, yes, its quite true. Sweet potatoes come in all sorts of colors of flesh and skins(here, pink/purple skin, white flesh), but all tend to have that smooth, thin skin and the appearance of a somewhat gnarled potato.
Now, here in Mali, there is, actually, a true yam. Here is a picture of what they look like here(thanks to some random guy on the web...)
Well, the ones I see here are a bit skinnier and tapered, but its the same woody, bark-like skinned thing, 2-3 feet long, I understand they can get as long as 7 feet. The flesh is remarkably different as well. Somewhat yellow and fibrous when cooked.
So why, now that you see the difference, do we call sweet potatoes yams in the states sometimes. Well, here is something else I learned. The "Africans" called sweet potatoes "nyami" when they "came over." Hence the word yam was applied.
So there you go. I'll let you know how the sweet potatoes go. And Im sure at some point, he'll also have yam, although just one seems to make a pound and a half of them...
By the way, sweet potatoes are now recognized as one of the healthiest foods. Go enjoy one...Here's a way to enjoy it in an, unfortunately, not so healthy way that I discovered somewhere in the states and would adapt for special occasions:
Bake a medium sweet potato(I don't know...like 40 minutes at 375-400), open as you would a baked potato and dress with brown sugar, butter, sour cream and chopped pecans. SO yummy.
I guess a more healthy way I've done them is sliced as french fries, tossed with olive oil, salt, cayenne pepper and paprika. Bake, 20 minutes(i think) at 375. Serve with ketchup mixed with Tabasco or tarter sauce.
I'm going to wait the 4 days that is suggested before introducing a new food(to make sure he's not allergic, but I don't think I've ever heard of anyone allergic to apples...) and then move forward with sweet potatoes.
Sweet potatoes should have been something I started with, but I found myself stuck in that sweet potato, yam debate...couldn't quite figure out what was what and I wasn't seeing any pink skinned, orange fleshed things in the market that seemed to be the beta carotene rich things I should be feeding Marshall.
So, here's some education, for those of you who don't already have it. Everything sold in the US as a sweet potato or a yam is actually a sweet potato. Yes, yes, its quite true. Sweet potatoes come in all sorts of colors of flesh and skins(here, pink/purple skin, white flesh), but all tend to have that smooth, thin skin and the appearance of a somewhat gnarled potato.
Now, here in Mali, there is, actually, a true yam. Here is a picture of what they look like here(thanks to some random guy on the web...)
Well, the ones I see here are a bit skinnier and tapered, but its the same woody, bark-like skinned thing, 2-3 feet long, I understand they can get as long as 7 feet. The flesh is remarkably different as well. Somewhat yellow and fibrous when cooked.
So why, now that you see the difference, do we call sweet potatoes yams in the states sometimes. Well, here is something else I learned. The "Africans" called sweet potatoes "nyami" when they "came over." Hence the word yam was applied.
So there you go. I'll let you know how the sweet potatoes go. And Im sure at some point, he'll also have yam, although just one seems to make a pound and a half of them...
By the way, sweet potatoes are now recognized as one of the healthiest foods. Go enjoy one...Here's a way to enjoy it in an, unfortunately, not so healthy way that I discovered somewhere in the states and would adapt for special occasions:
Bake a medium sweet potato(I don't know...like 40 minutes at 375-400), open as you would a baked potato and dress with brown sugar, butter, sour cream and chopped pecans. SO yummy.
I guess a more healthy way I've done them is sliced as french fries, tossed with olive oil, salt, cayenne pepper and paprika. Bake, 20 minutes(i think) at 375. Serve with ketchup mixed with Tabasco or tarter sauce.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Stuff...
A few random topics going though my head this morning...
Fridays...
So Friday to Muslims in BKO is like Sunday to Christians, kinda...the 1pm prayer call is when everyone goes to mosque. It seems that EVERY Friday at 1pm, I find some reason I need to leave the house. I just don't learn. For the most part, Im typically looking for something(lunch, bread, etc) and everything is closed, but this past Friday, I decided it was time to take a walk in a new direction to explore. In that direction, as I discovered, are two massive mosques, almost across the street from each other. Those praying at mentioned mosques had spilled out into the streets to pray, blocking all my assumed routes. I decided to wait a bit until prayer let out and forge onward. Little did I know that put me smack dab swimming upstream. It wasn't worth it, I had to ride the crowd in the other direction. Today, I am going to give it another go...it looked like there was some really cool stuff up there.
Peace Corps...
Most of you reading this blog know that Ian and I were here before and actually met here as Peace Corps volunteers. I've been a couple of places lately where there have been current volunteers dining. I can't bring myself to introduce myself as an alum. Seems that people did that when I was a volunteer and I always thought they were weird. Granted as a volunteer, it is typically you that is the weird one, but with 150 some odd others in country, you tend to feel validated.
None the less, I feel I should leave them to their experience and not interrupt it with mine. Kinda like sensitive wildlife. Granted, Ian has been invited to speak at Peace Corps training this upcoming week and I think Marshall and I will go with him (there tends to be free dinner involved), but those are newbies. They tend to find us less weird than the seasoned volunteers as they are closer to their stateside lives. None the less, it will be surreal to go back to the training site. Its been a long time...
Stoop side shopping
There are a handful of things that I still want for the house that I have yet to purchase. Part of the reason is that there are some things that are typically, or only in small quantities, sold in the market. Some vendors, for whatever reason, are solely wandering vendors. A perfect example is bananas. Every time I want some bananas, I typically have to wait for a banana seller to wander near me. Luckily, I know where some of them go to take their breaks and know I can typically find there. I am in search, though, of some large mats. This is a wandering seller. I dont know where he takes his breaks. This is something that I simply need to sit outside one day and wait to go by.
Pictures
As much as I would love to show everyone more images of where we live and what I see everyday, I have to be careful with the camera. It can cause a commotion with kids around. In addition, I don't want people that have become my friends and neighbors to feel like tourist attractions. I mean, how would you feel if someone came up to you at work and asked to take your picture like you were a fascinating animal in a zoo? It might not feel like that, but the fact that it could causes me hesitation. Perhaps I'll get over it a bit as time goes by and I get to know people better. For now, I hope my words are painting a good picture. Also, most images I find when I Google Bamako paint a pretty good picture of things.
Marshall and food
Marshall still can't get enough of bananas. He also had a little furufuru(millet dumpling) yesterday that he seemed to enjoy. Avocado is touch and go. Peas seemed to have a good flavor, but they needed to be cooked a bit more to be mushier. He really seemed to like millet and banana as well, but again, the millet needed to be cooked a bit more. Tonight we are going to try some applesauce.
Fridays...
So Friday to Muslims in BKO is like Sunday to Christians, kinda...the 1pm prayer call is when everyone goes to mosque. It seems that EVERY Friday at 1pm, I find some reason I need to leave the house. I just don't learn. For the most part, Im typically looking for something(lunch, bread, etc) and everything is closed, but this past Friday, I decided it was time to take a walk in a new direction to explore. In that direction, as I discovered, are two massive mosques, almost across the street from each other. Those praying at mentioned mosques had spilled out into the streets to pray, blocking all my assumed routes. I decided to wait a bit until prayer let out and forge onward. Little did I know that put me smack dab swimming upstream. It wasn't worth it, I had to ride the crowd in the other direction. Today, I am going to give it another go...it looked like there was some really cool stuff up there.
Peace Corps...
Most of you reading this blog know that Ian and I were here before and actually met here as Peace Corps volunteers. I've been a couple of places lately where there have been current volunteers dining. I can't bring myself to introduce myself as an alum. Seems that people did that when I was a volunteer and I always thought they were weird. Granted as a volunteer, it is typically you that is the weird one, but with 150 some odd others in country, you tend to feel validated.
None the less, I feel I should leave them to their experience and not interrupt it with mine. Kinda like sensitive wildlife. Granted, Ian has been invited to speak at Peace Corps training this upcoming week and I think Marshall and I will go with him (there tends to be free dinner involved), but those are newbies. They tend to find us less weird than the seasoned volunteers as they are closer to their stateside lives. None the less, it will be surreal to go back to the training site. Its been a long time...
Stoop side shopping
There are a handful of things that I still want for the house that I have yet to purchase. Part of the reason is that there are some things that are typically, or only in small quantities, sold in the market. Some vendors, for whatever reason, are solely wandering vendors. A perfect example is bananas. Every time I want some bananas, I typically have to wait for a banana seller to wander near me. Luckily, I know where some of them go to take their breaks and know I can typically find there. I am in search, though, of some large mats. This is a wandering seller. I dont know where he takes his breaks. This is something that I simply need to sit outside one day and wait to go by.
Pictures
As much as I would love to show everyone more images of where we live and what I see everyday, I have to be careful with the camera. It can cause a commotion with kids around. In addition, I don't want people that have become my friends and neighbors to feel like tourist attractions. I mean, how would you feel if someone came up to you at work and asked to take your picture like you were a fascinating animal in a zoo? It might not feel like that, but the fact that it could causes me hesitation. Perhaps I'll get over it a bit as time goes by and I get to know people better. For now, I hope my words are painting a good picture. Also, most images I find when I Google Bamako paint a pretty good picture of things.
Marshall and food
Marshall still can't get enough of bananas. He also had a little furufuru(millet dumpling) yesterday that he seemed to enjoy. Avocado is touch and go. Peas seemed to have a good flavor, but they needed to be cooked a bit more to be mushier. He really seemed to like millet and banana as well, but again, the millet needed to be cooked a bit more. Tonight we are going to try some applesauce.
Growing up...
So, as you can see in the bath picture below, Marshall is now sitting up all by himself. We also discovered yesterday that he can push himself into a sitting position from his hands and knees. Finally, this kid is mobile. Its not quite crawling, more like a salamander scoot on his belly, but he can MOVE FAST. All this came together in 2 days! And he can fetch...there are reasons we don't remember these times in our life.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Prayer Call, or the never ending alarm clock
Ok, first, have you seen that sleep aid commercial, well theres a few of them, that highlight, "Sleep like you did before the..." There is one that is a couple on a farm and when offering her husband the sleep aid late at night, she says, "Sleep like you did before the rooster went blind." And you see this rooster crowing even though its nighttime.
Yeah...so we have one in our neighborhood. The first week we were here, I thought it was a normal rooster until I started looking at the clock and realized I was hearing it from 1:30am and all hours in between.
I say this as it is but one thing that interrupts my sleep (excuse my bitterness about sleeping the past two posts...I've had a couple of bad nights with the baby). There is obviously Marshall and Ian's snoring, but Mali offers the unique addition of more than just the blind rooster. Prayer call.
So again, this is something I remember differently from being here before. Maybe I just blacked some of it out. First, for those of you unfamiliar with what I am talking about, one of the pillars of Islam is to pray 5 times a day. One of the times is at sunrise. In Bamako, since its a big city and there is such a high population density, there are loud-speakered calls to prayer from the Mosques for each prayer time. Ok, so back to what I remember...I remember very clearly, when in Bamako at the Peace Corps house, seriously seeing the sun and hearing about 2 mosques do their call to prayer over, say, about 15 minutes. It was pleasant, peaceful, and something I really enjoyed.
Supposedly our neighborhood is very Muslim, and we live closer in town, so maybe that explains some of the fact that prayer call starts at about 4am and continues until about 6:30am. It seems that some of the calls are prerecorded(making me wonder if they are on some sort of timer that someone needs to fix) and some are real time. They come from at least 4 or 5 mosques. I think they actually start doing it when they see the sun in Mecca. Either that or its like 3 rounds each:
Round 1- If you want to be a REALLY good pray-er, get your butt up now!
Round 2- Ok, we know its early, but come on, its time to get up and pray.
Round 3- Slackers. You are lucky we don't turn you in to Allah, last chance, get up and pray already.
It seems to have not a thing to do with the rising of the sun. They must be seeing something I'm not. In fact, prayer call is over(its 6:15am), but according to the weather report, sunrise isn't until 6:55am. What the $#%^?
Ok, I've saved the best part for last. The part that always gets me out of bed in case I was still lounging about after all this excitement. There is some dude who wanders through the neighborhood(passing by our house at about 4:55am) who, honestly, I am not sure what he's doing. If its like a personal call to prayer or he's just being one of those Round 1-ers letting everyone else know that he's awake and the good one already praying, BUT, he wanders through singing/chanting, "Al-lah....Al-lah...Al-lah...Al-lah...Al-LAH(this last one twice as loud as the prior ones)" Again and again like that, sometimes stopping to say something else really fast. If it wasn't culturally inappropriate and flat out disrespectful of a major religion I'd go out there and find his snooze button. Muslim or not, I'm sure I'm not the only one on the block who wants to.
Yeah...so we have one in our neighborhood. The first week we were here, I thought it was a normal rooster until I started looking at the clock and realized I was hearing it from 1:30am and all hours in between.
I say this as it is but one thing that interrupts my sleep (excuse my bitterness about sleeping the past two posts...I've had a couple of bad nights with the baby). There is obviously Marshall and Ian's snoring, but Mali offers the unique addition of more than just the blind rooster. Prayer call.
So again, this is something I remember differently from being here before. Maybe I just blacked some of it out. First, for those of you unfamiliar with what I am talking about, one of the pillars of Islam is to pray 5 times a day. One of the times is at sunrise. In Bamako, since its a big city and there is such a high population density, there are loud-speakered calls to prayer from the Mosques for each prayer time. Ok, so back to what I remember...I remember very clearly, when in Bamako at the Peace Corps house, seriously seeing the sun and hearing about 2 mosques do their call to prayer over, say, about 15 minutes. It was pleasant, peaceful, and something I really enjoyed.
Supposedly our neighborhood is very Muslim, and we live closer in town, so maybe that explains some of the fact that prayer call starts at about 4am and continues until about 6:30am. It seems that some of the calls are prerecorded(making me wonder if they are on some sort of timer that someone needs to fix) and some are real time. They come from at least 4 or 5 mosques. I think they actually start doing it when they see the sun in Mecca. Either that or its like 3 rounds each:
Round 1- If you want to be a REALLY good pray-er, get your butt up now!
Round 2- Ok, we know its early, but come on, its time to get up and pray.
Round 3- Slackers. You are lucky we don't turn you in to Allah, last chance, get up and pray already.
It seems to have not a thing to do with the rising of the sun. They must be seeing something I'm not. In fact, prayer call is over(its 6:15am), but according to the weather report, sunrise isn't until 6:55am. What the $#%^?
Ok, I've saved the best part for last. The part that always gets me out of bed in case I was still lounging about after all this excitement. There is some dude who wanders through the neighborhood(passing by our house at about 4:55am) who, honestly, I am not sure what he's doing. If its like a personal call to prayer or he's just being one of those Round 1-ers letting everyone else know that he's awake and the good one already praying, BUT, he wanders through singing/chanting, "Al-lah....Al-lah...Al-lah...Al-lah...Al-LAH(this last one twice as loud as the prior ones)" Again and again like that, sometimes stopping to say something else really fast. If it wasn't culturally inappropriate and flat out disrespectful of a major religion I'd go out there and find his snooze button. Muslim or not, I'm sure I'm not the only one on the block who wants to.
Happy New Year!
I hope it was well passed by all. New Year's Eve has always been a quiet night for us, being that its the anniversary of when we got together. A romantic evening...a bit different with a 6 month old. Now, romance is being able to get a bit of sleep regardless of the holiday. Ian made it until midnight. I got to about 11:07 and then conked out. Ian woke me with a quick kiss at midnight, I heard lots of fireworks go off and then, miraculously, about 30 minutes later, pure silence. It was odd, because most nights here, I dont even hear that until about 2:30am.
We did celebrate in typical Malian style, something that had slipped past us the last time around here. Basically, with the eating of chicken and french fries. There were chickens being sold everywhere! BIG chickens too...already cleaned chickens...and everyone was in such a great festive mood. We added the un-muslim piece of some banji, or palm wine. It was good banji, but I'm still not a huge fan. Ian loves it. I think it tastes like urine. Give me a millet beer anyday.
Honestly, I was, perhaps naively, surprised that it was such a big celebration. I remember coming back from my Peace Corps service and reading a blurb in the NY Times about a film collection of shorts of how people were ringing in the millenium around the world. One was of this village in Mali, a couple of old guys sitting around drinking tea, and listening to the radio. In otherwords, nothing out of the ordinary. But, despite the fact that this was a film, it took place in the village. This is Bamako, the party capital of West Africa. Basically, we didn't know how big it was because a. we didnt live here and b. New Years was a time for PC Volunteers to get together and celebrate Ameriki style...none of us were ever in our towns or villages to experience it.
New years day is not unlike the states. Everyone is tired. They greet their neighbors with tidings for a good year, but for the most part, relax, stay quiet and watch TV. We hung out with Abdolaye for a bit who came by to greet us.
So in getting settled and dealing with Marshall teething(those top two should be in ANY day now), I honestly have not had much of a chance to get to my list of things I want to do while here. Thats my sole New Year's resolution.
I hope all of you have a happy, healthy and successful year.
We did celebrate in typical Malian style, something that had slipped past us the last time around here. Basically, with the eating of chicken and french fries. There were chickens being sold everywhere! BIG chickens too...already cleaned chickens...and everyone was in such a great festive mood. We added the un-muslim piece of some banji, or palm wine. It was good banji, but I'm still not a huge fan. Ian loves it. I think it tastes like urine. Give me a millet beer anyday.
Honestly, I was, perhaps naively, surprised that it was such a big celebration. I remember coming back from my Peace Corps service and reading a blurb in the NY Times about a film collection of shorts of how people were ringing in the millenium around the world. One was of this village in Mali, a couple of old guys sitting around drinking tea, and listening to the radio. In otherwords, nothing out of the ordinary. But, despite the fact that this was a film, it took place in the village. This is Bamako, the party capital of West Africa. Basically, we didn't know how big it was because a. we didnt live here and b. New Years was a time for PC Volunteers to get together and celebrate Ameriki style...none of us were ever in our towns or villages to experience it.
New years day is not unlike the states. Everyone is tired. They greet their neighbors with tidings for a good year, but for the most part, relax, stay quiet and watch TV. We hung out with Abdolaye for a bit who came by to greet us.
So in getting settled and dealing with Marshall teething(those top two should be in ANY day now), I honestly have not had much of a chance to get to my list of things I want to do while here. Thats my sole New Year's resolution.
I hope all of you have a happy, healthy and successful year.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Abdolaye...updated
So I have received a few emails of people asking about what is up with the latest drama and our friend Abdolaye. You know Ian and I keep talking about how we almost need a whole separate blog sometimes for our Abdolaye stories. He is a case study in cultural differences and things being lost in translation.
Let me first state that Abdolaye is a good person. I think he means well and its clear he's in a funny place in his life. His father, a very respected scientist, passed away this past year. Abdolaye is the oldest son, 27, and yet to be married and is only partially employed. he never finished school. Lets just say he has a few unresolved issues. Regardless, he always shows up with a smile on his face and at least the intention of doing good.
He's almost like a comic book version of himself at times. He splashes water all over everything, almost ruining some of Ian's field books. He started pouring dirty water down the sink and backed up the drain something fierce. And seriously, every time he comes, there has only been one time(when he had somewhere else to be) that he doesn't spend at least an hour inexplicably sitting quietly and alone on our couch.
Regardless, he's doing his job, responding when we ask something to be done differently (like not splashed all over the place), so there is nothing we can, in good conscience, do. We just have to keep feeding him, riding out the awkward silences, and learn our own strange things we do that seem to make him finally go...seems every time I start cooking he decides its time to leave.
Also, he and Marshall adore each other. Marshall gets so excited when Abdolaye shows up and takes him. Abdolaye loves Marshall so much that the day after Tabaski, he came by in his super fancy clothes with his friend who is a professional photographer to make sure to get a picture of Abdolaye holding Marshall.
Abdolaye has a young friend, Moussa, who lives 2 doors down who is equally as awkward, although his intentions are a bit more clear. Ian let him play his PSP for about 3 hours the first day he was over here. He keeps coming for another shot at it. Moussa supposedly is in high school with the desire to go to college and become an accountant, although I see him out and about in the neighborhood, just about every day.
So thats whats up with Abdolaye. He's on his way now and Ian, again, has something that HAS to be done today. Seems to always be the case the days that Abdolaye comes...
Let me first state that Abdolaye is a good person. I think he means well and its clear he's in a funny place in his life. His father, a very respected scientist, passed away this past year. Abdolaye is the oldest son, 27, and yet to be married and is only partially employed. he never finished school. Lets just say he has a few unresolved issues. Regardless, he always shows up with a smile on his face and at least the intention of doing good.
He's almost like a comic book version of himself at times. He splashes water all over everything, almost ruining some of Ian's field books. He started pouring dirty water down the sink and backed up the drain something fierce. And seriously, every time he comes, there has only been one time(when he had somewhere else to be) that he doesn't spend at least an hour inexplicably sitting quietly and alone on our couch.
Regardless, he's doing his job, responding when we ask something to be done differently (like not splashed all over the place), so there is nothing we can, in good conscience, do. We just have to keep feeding him, riding out the awkward silences, and learn our own strange things we do that seem to make him finally go...seems every time I start cooking he decides its time to leave.
Also, he and Marshall adore each other. Marshall gets so excited when Abdolaye shows up and takes him. Abdolaye loves Marshall so much that the day after Tabaski, he came by in his super fancy clothes with his friend who is a professional photographer to make sure to get a picture of Abdolaye holding Marshall.
Abdolaye has a young friend, Moussa, who lives 2 doors down who is equally as awkward, although his intentions are a bit more clear. Ian let him play his PSP for about 3 hours the first day he was over here. He keeps coming for another shot at it. Moussa supposedly is in high school with the desire to go to college and become an accountant, although I see him out and about in the neighborhood, just about every day.
So thats whats up with Abdolaye. He's on his way now and Ian, again, has something that HAS to be done today. Seems to always be the case the days that Abdolaye comes...
Food
So a few of you have asked about a couple of things involving food. First, am I working on my cookbook...ah...Marshall is teaching me about the kinds of goals I should really make with a small baby living on Mali time. In otherwords, the answer is no. The other question is what do I do with my days...I've been nesting in my new home and getting to know my neighborhood and city. Everyday I basically live the life of an American housewife. There is cleaning to do, always lots of laundry with cloth diapers. I go to the market pretty much everyday to get fresh food for dinner and the next day, meat, veggies and bread. We go for a long walk once a day to get out and see something new, or perhaps just fun. And this is interspersed with naps from Marshall that allow me to return some emails, update this blog and take care of odds and ends logistically for our lives.
I have also been asked what we eat as the image for some is of a small African village, which this is not, and others, a place with limited food choices. Let me tell you, we are actually eating quite well and not too different from the average American family. Once a week we go to one of the few Western style grocery stores in town and get some luxury items like Nutella, cheese, butter, toilet paper otherwise, we eat very well from the small and large markets that aren't too far from our home. For Chirstmas dinner we had a fantastic beef tenderloin(ummm...a $40 cut of meat in the states for about $4...it was sick), mashed potatoes and green beans with mushrooms. The mushrooms and butter were the only add on items.
Another thing about the cookbook is that there are new things I am discovering here this time around that keep getting added to my list of things I want ot learn how to make...frufru, black eyed pea sandwiches...and seriously, I had something that tasted like some of the best pork rind ever the other day, but I know it wasn't pork...so many treasures, so little time!
Below are some recipies of some things we've made recently/new staples here in Mali. Some of these things, honestly, we would have never cooked in the states
Last nights dinner (serves 2)
Spicy Guinea Fowl and Green Beans
1 small Guinea fowl or chicken
1/3 c dijon mustard
1/2 t hot red pepper flakes
1 t salt
1/2 t black pepper
1 small onion
6 cloves garlic
1/2 lb green beans
1 T butter
salt and pepper to taste
Boil the green beans in water until tender. Add butter, salt and pepper. Toss, cover and set aside.
Ok, I honestly can't give a temperature that this was cooked on...it was number 7 on our strange oven thing...I'd check the standard per pound roasting times for a chicken(or duck if you are using guinea fowl) online or in a standard cookbook like Joy of Cooking. Preheat to that temperature.
Rinse the poultry. Rub with dijon mustard and set in roasting pan. Sprinkle inside and outside with salt, red pepper, and black pepper. Coarsly chop the onion and 3 cloves of garlic and stuff inside the body cavity. Mince the other 3 cloves of garlic and rub all over. Cook according to instructions above.
Viande Hachee Sandwiches(ground beef sandwiches....this is Malian street food....)-Serves 4
1 lb lean ground beef
1 medium onion
1 green pepper
2 cloves garlic
1 medium tomato
1 T vegetable oil
2 T white vinager
1/4 t red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste
Mayonnaise
Crusty French bread
Dice the onion, green pepper and tomato, mince the garlic. Sautee all of that in the oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until the onions begin to sweat. Add the ground beef, pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Brown the beef. Add the vinegar and cook 5 more minutes while stirring. Serve on french bread spread with mayonnaise(or mustard and ketchup).
Hard boiled Egg Salad- Serves 2
1 head romaine or red tipped lettuce
1 cucumber
2 roma tomatoes
1 carrot
1 large potato
1 T vegetable oil
6 hard boiled eggs
1/4 c peanuts
Dressing
1/4 c olive oil
1/3 c white vinegar
2 T dijon mustard
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
To make the dressing, whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl. Refrigerate.
Slice the potato into french fry slices. Fry in the oil over medium high heat until golden. Peel and chop the carrot and cucumber. Dice the tomatoes and eggs. Divide lettuce evenly onto plates. Divide other ingredients evenly and top with chilled dressing.
As for the street food. I got all excited, as you may recall, about learning the technique for cooking many things here. Yeah, so this is for the RPCVs laughing at me about now, I quickly forget, its all in the oil...a kind we can't get in the states...thats really all there is too a lot of it...
Happy eating to you all and happy new year!
I have also been asked what we eat as the image for some is of a small African village, which this is not, and others, a place with limited food choices. Let me tell you, we are actually eating quite well and not too different from the average American family. Once a week we go to one of the few Western style grocery stores in town and get some luxury items like Nutella, cheese, butter, toilet paper otherwise, we eat very well from the small and large markets that aren't too far from our home. For Chirstmas dinner we had a fantastic beef tenderloin(ummm...a $40 cut of meat in the states for about $4...it was sick), mashed potatoes and green beans with mushrooms. The mushrooms and butter were the only add on items.
Another thing about the cookbook is that there are new things I am discovering here this time around that keep getting added to my list of things I want ot learn how to make...frufru, black eyed pea sandwiches...and seriously, I had something that tasted like some of the best pork rind ever the other day, but I know it wasn't pork...so many treasures, so little time!
Below are some recipies of some things we've made recently/new staples here in Mali. Some of these things, honestly, we would have never cooked in the states
Last nights dinner (serves 2)
Spicy Guinea Fowl and Green Beans
1 small Guinea fowl or chicken
1/3 c dijon mustard
1/2 t hot red pepper flakes
1 t salt
1/2 t black pepper
1 small onion
6 cloves garlic
1/2 lb green beans
1 T butter
salt and pepper to taste
Boil the green beans in water until tender. Add butter, salt and pepper. Toss, cover and set aside.
Ok, I honestly can't give a temperature that this was cooked on...it was number 7 on our strange oven thing...I'd check the standard per pound roasting times for a chicken(or duck if you are using guinea fowl) online or in a standard cookbook like Joy of Cooking. Preheat to that temperature.
Rinse the poultry. Rub with dijon mustard and set in roasting pan. Sprinkle inside and outside with salt, red pepper, and black pepper. Coarsly chop the onion and 3 cloves of garlic and stuff inside the body cavity. Mince the other 3 cloves of garlic and rub all over. Cook according to instructions above.
Viande Hachee Sandwiches(ground beef sandwiches....this is Malian street food....)-Serves 4
1 lb lean ground beef
1 medium onion
1 green pepper
2 cloves garlic
1 medium tomato
1 T vegetable oil
2 T white vinager
1/4 t red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste
Mayonnaise
Crusty French bread
Dice the onion, green pepper and tomato, mince the garlic. Sautee all of that in the oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until the onions begin to sweat. Add the ground beef, pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Brown the beef. Add the vinegar and cook 5 more minutes while stirring. Serve on french bread spread with mayonnaise(or mustard and ketchup).
Hard boiled Egg Salad- Serves 2
1 head romaine or red tipped lettuce
1 cucumber
2 roma tomatoes
1 carrot
1 large potato
1 T vegetable oil
6 hard boiled eggs
1/4 c peanuts
Dressing
1/4 c olive oil
1/3 c white vinegar
2 T dijon mustard
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
To make the dressing, whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl. Refrigerate.
Slice the potato into french fry slices. Fry in the oil over medium high heat until golden. Peel and chop the carrot and cucumber. Dice the tomatoes and eggs. Divide lettuce evenly onto plates. Divide other ingredients evenly and top with chilled dressing.
As for the street food. I got all excited, as you may recall, about learning the technique for cooking many things here. Yeah, so this is for the RPCVs laughing at me about now, I quickly forget, its all in the oil...a kind we can't get in the states...thats really all there is too a lot of it...
Happy eating to you all and happy new year!
Friday, December 28, 2007
The burbs
This morning, we hopped in a taxi to head out to the suburbs of Bamako to the American Embassy to take care of some business. What used to be a falling apart old colonial structure in, seriously, the smack middle of downtown, is now a sprawling shiny office complex out in the Hamdallaye neighborhood. This is an "unfinished" area of town with tons of construction, some new, some half finished and abondonned. There has been some care taken to the planning of it and there is landscaping in the medians, lots of paved roads and bits of Western life all around. I wish I'd had my camera. It really even felt like the burbs in the states in some areas. At one point, we were on this large parkway, 4 lanes, a landscaped median in the middle. Large empty spaces waiting to be developped are interrupted by fancy and sterile Peugeot dealerships, Western hospitals, spankin' new hotels with "free internet..." We even passed what looked frighteningly like a mall...modern clothing, furniture stores, a restaurant...it looked like a bank had taken over where the movie theater was supposed to go. I honestly would not have been suprised to see a Chili's and a drive thru Starbucks. We happily found "The Mac Centre Mali." wow...wonder if they have iPhones...
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Happy 6 month birthday...
Dear Marshall,
As this is the most complete of a baby book you have, we wanted to be sure to take a moment to commemorate your first 6 months with us here in the outside world. A you probably know at this point in your life, you were not a planned event. As we now understand it, you were an incredible blessing in disguise, your timing perfect.
The past 6 months have easily been some of the best months of our lives. The joy you continue to bring us is simply enormous. As much as we'd love to keep you sweet, cuddly and small forever, at the same time, we can't wait to see what the next 6 months, even years, bring to see who you become and what you kind of person you grow into.
We know all your days aren't perfect, but we promise to always be there to hold you when you cry and do our best to keep you well fed, healthy, and stimulated enough to grow and be excited by all the wonderful things this world holds. We can't promise we'll be perfect, but we promise that our intentions with you will always be pure and our love always present.
May your next six months here in Mali be even better than the first six. We can't wait to share them with you.
Happy birthday our dear son. We adore you.
More love than we ever imagined we could give,
Mom and Dad(aka the booby and the elbow)
As this is the most complete of a baby book you have, we wanted to be sure to take a moment to commemorate your first 6 months with us here in the outside world. A you probably know at this point in your life, you were not a planned event. As we now understand it, you were an incredible blessing in disguise, your timing perfect.
The past 6 months have easily been some of the best months of our lives. The joy you continue to bring us is simply enormous. As much as we'd love to keep you sweet, cuddly and small forever, at the same time, we can't wait to see what the next 6 months, even years, bring to see who you become and what you kind of person you grow into.
We know all your days aren't perfect, but we promise to always be there to hold you when you cry and do our best to keep you well fed, healthy, and stimulated enough to grow and be excited by all the wonderful things this world holds. We can't promise we'll be perfect, but we promise that our intentions with you will always be pure and our love always present.
May your next six months here in Mali be even better than the first six. We can't wait to share them with you.
Happy birthday our dear son. We adore you.
More love than we ever imagined we could give,
Mom and Dad(aka the booby and the elbow)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)